Foreign starlight
by HannibalHobbit
Summary: Fitting in is hard, for some even impossible. But what if the odds are against you and force to leave your own world to finally find a place where you belong? Well, that was my predicament and now I can only hope to make it out of this madness alive. I have faced a god, defied death and safed my loved ones. Killing a dragon won't be a problem then, right? (Thorin x OC)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson, I merely own my own character Rosemary. Have fun reading =)

"There's nothing there..._there's absolutely nothing there_!" I mumbled over and over again as I tried to ignore the pounding of my heart in my head and the pounding of feet that seemed to be right behind me. I still couldn't comprehend why I had thought that going on a walk in the forest at night would be a good idea, but by now it was seemingly too late to simply turn around and get back home.

The footsteps behind me had started shortly after the treetops had almost stolen all of the moonlight, making it even harder for me to get away. Strangely enough, the sound didn't seem to get any louder or quieter, as if whatever was behind me always kept at the same pace as me. I didn't dare to run again after I literally flew over a root the first time and simply walked at a brisk pace, trying to keep my heart from exploding out of fear. I was too scared to turn around, afraid to find out that there was indeed something stalking around behind me, but after about ten minutes of being chased, I was also getting a little pissed off.

Luckily enough I had the bright idea to take my grandpa's walking cane with me, basically a gnarly stick with a handle, and decided to face the thing behind me at the next turn for the forest didn't seem to be ending any time soon. If it was just some curious animal, my sudden movement would probably scare it off easily enough, but if it really was some guy set to kill me, probably even my stick wouldn't help me much.

I was getting surprisingly calm when I saw the next clearing coming into sight, ready to whack the thing behind me over the head. I ran the last few meters, hoping to bring some distance between us, grabbed the end of the stick with both hands and twirled around, taking as much momentum as I could into the swing and met a barrier halfway. It was a wonder the stick didn't break from the hit, but I still dropped it because of the sudden pain that reached up to my shoulders from the sudden stop.

I didn't scream when I saw the figure looming over me for I was still far too scared and almost a little bit surprised. "You carry starlight, my child." My reaction to those words probably was quite rude and inappropriate, but I couldn't help the laughter to bubble out of my mouth as relief washed over me. If this dude wanted to kill me, he wouldn't be talking such crap.

The person in front of me was still creepy, but I couldn't help but feel somehow reassured in my hope of surviving this meeting. "I'm so sorry!" I almost yelled at him, still trying to stiffle my giggles and laughter. The man simply lifted a hand and waited patiently for me to finish. It took me about five more minutes to calm down again and catch my breath again, and as I finally took a proper look at the figure standing there about 3 meters away from me, I couldn't help but to take a step back.

He was a strange sight indeed, somehow wrapped in darkness but with a strange light emitting from him, making it impossible for me to see more of him than the outlines of his body and his long and flowing white hair and beard. "Who are you?" I asked with a tiny voice, looking around for the stick I had dropped. "People have given me many names...choose whichever you wish to use." I furrowed my brows. That wasn't really helping.

The person chuckled as if he was answering on my thoughts and sighed. "Than I shall help you to decide. They call me 'The One' or 'Father of All'. I create, I give life as well as I take it again." I let out a little gasp. "So you say you are supposed to be _God_? And you really think I would believe that?" He came closer and walked past me when I sidestepped him, not daring to touch him in any way. He now stood in the clearing with the moonlight shining down on him, but I still couldn't make out his face. And to be honest, it really freaked me out a little bit.

"If that is the name you wish to call me, then yes, I am God." His tone was dry, not quite fitting his soft voice. I wrapped one arm around my stomach, keeping the other one on the stick I had picked up again from the forest floor. "I do not expect you to believe me, for this is not the reason why I came upon this realm. You do carry starlight...and not the starlight of this world." I snorted. "Now you are just talking crap. Sorry but I really don't have time for this, I have to work tomorrow." This time I did indeed scream for the creepy God-guy suddenly stood right in front of me when I turned around to leave, making me slam into his chest.

"HOLY CRAP!" I yelled, pushing myself backwards and promptly fell over my own feet. "Apologies. It was not my intention to scare you, but it is important that you hear me out." By now I was completely drained of anything that would keep me on my feet and simply pulled my knees to my chest, trying not to hyperventilate.

He obviously took it as a sign that he had my attention and he began to talk again. "The starlight that surrounds you has once been stolen and taken away from my precious Arda. A long time ago when the Ainulindalë was created, there had been...dissonances. Not quite noticable at first, but with the time they began to disturb our precious melody. I decided to watch at first but when the dissonance became stronger I decided that it was time to act and seek out what caused this disharmony."

He rounded me a couple of times, still keeping some distance between us. "And soon I saw a shining star being born on Earth. I knew soon that the odds would always be against you, that nature alone would be trying to get rid of you, but I could not let that happen until you were of age. And so I waited and took away the dangers that threatened to take you away into an early grave, starting with your parents."

Now he definitely had my attention. "What is that supposed to mean? My mother died during my birth and my father had a heart attack out of grief." The hand that was suddenly on my shoulder made me jump in surprise and I quickly shoved it away as I tried to get some distance between us again. "What is that supposed to mean?" I repeated louder as he stayed quiet.

"It was merely a precaution. If your mother would have survived it would have killed you. If your father would have survived he would have blamed you for his wife's death and would have killed you at one point in his life. This was the only logical solution." By this I already had my stick back in my hands, ready to strike him again. "Killing my parents was not _logical!_ What the hell do you want from me?!" A strong wind began to blow through the clearing, making me shiver.

"There are things you do not understand yet, mortal. And there are forces you should not meddle with. You were brought upon this world by accident and it is your burden to carry the light you have stolen back into the realm where it belongs to." His tone had changed. Somehow the clear and soft voice had turned into something sour, a mere whisper that made an unpleasant shiver crawl down my spine.

"There is merely a choice...I wonder, to whom will you deliver that light to? Ah yes, of course. A king it shall be. But which king...the king with a no throne and a golden heart or the king with no heart but a golden throne? So many decisions yet to make and so little time...Oh, I think it is time for us to depart, my dear." By now my head was spinning and my legs began to wobble from fright. What the hell was he talking about?

"It is a long way to Middle-Earth, mortal. You better start to _run_!" And there, just for a split second, as the God bent forwards, I saw his face. It was a sight that both delighted me and scared me in ways I cannot understand even now. Beautiful, he was so beautiful with his perfect face that seemed like it was formed by an artist, so young and yet thickly coated with wisdom and age and so symmetric that it almost looked scary.

His pale skin shone like the silver moonlight that was reflected in his endlessly deep and bright blue eyes. His white hair framed his face perfectly the way it was caught by an nonexistant wind and his beard, also as white as his hair hung far down to his waist, looking smooth and rough at the same time.

But as he grinned down at me, this perfect facáde began to wither away. The grin was crooked and made him look like a madman with his gleaming blue eyes. It was this split second that I finally believed that he was indeed a god. A god that had lost his marbles probably, but it didn't change the fact that he was divine. He had told me to run and his face alone was enough reason to obey.

For a moment I didn't even realize that I was being followed again and as soon as I heard the trampling of many feet behind me, it was already too late to turn around. I didn't see the turn in front of me, for the moon had been masked by a dark cloud in that second and so it wasn't too surprising that my foot got caught in a root, sending me flying over the edge of the forest and down the slope. My breath got caught in my chest, making me unable to scream and I was about halfway down when my head violently connected with the trunk of a tree, knocking me out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson own everything, I only own my measly OC Rosemary =)

I woke up with a horribly headache and with a bright light shining in my face. "Ow..." I tried to sit up, but as soon as I tried to lift my torso, I was quickly pushed down again by a hand on my shoulder. I would have jumped out of the way, afraid that I ran into this God dude again, but as soon as my eyes got used to the light, I realized that I was mistaken.

The person above me was somehow sturdier than him, with a dark beard and long dark hair that was partly streaked with grey. His concerned face instantly seemed a lot more likable to me. "Careful, you hit your head quite hard on your way down. Do you remember what happened?" His voice was a little gruff, but I wasn't one to complain. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and tried to sit up again. He aided me with a hand on my shoulder and my back and pushed me against a tree so I could lean against it.

I tried to sort my thoughts for a moment before I attempted to answer his question. "Where am I?" I decided against answering, saying something wrong would probably only get me in even more trouble. "Halfway to Hobbiton. Your clothing is most unusual for a dwarven woman...where do you hail from?" Hobbiton? Dwarf? Holy crap, that dude had not been kidding when he had talked about Middle Earth! That was the point when the first wave of shock came crashing down on me.

I sat stiff as a board for a few seconds, relishing the pounding headache as a sign that he didn't kill me off at least before a rough hand on my shoulder brought me back. "Are you alright? You seem quite pale." I nodded quickly, shutting my eyes again when the pounding got worse. He shuffled around next to me and as he walked a few steps I looked up again, taking the change to observe him closer. He was dressed in something close to a chainmail shirt with a royal blue coat with fur on top of it. His boots were bold and adorned with strange runes, matching his rough appearance quite nicely.

Gathering together my limited knowledge of Middle Earth knowledge I suspected him to be a dwarf, _just like me?_ Considering his expensive looking clothing he probably belonged to some royal family and the weapons on his back and his bags made him seem like a capable warrior. If I managed to stick around with him I probably wouldn't get my head chopped of by the next best orc at least...I shook my head in confusion. I was adapting with this a little bit too well for my liking.

I looked down on myself, lifting my hands and turning them around. I had always been quite short, too short for my liking anyways, but as I observed myself, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Short and skinny legs, rather wide hips and equally thin arms. I always felt like I could do with a few pounds more, but there was nothing I could do due to my fast metabolism. There were quite a lot of rips in my clothes and cuts on my arms and legs, but besides my headache I couldn't feel any other pain.

Speaking of my head, I carefully lifted my hand to the back of it, touching around for a wound that could need medical attention. I winced as I touched a rather tender spot and shrieked quietly as I ran my fingertips over the wound where I had probably hit my head on the tree.

"You should drink some water, we probably wont reach Hobbiton before tomorrow." My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. "Will you take me with you?" I asked clearly surprised. For a moment our expressions matched perfectly. "How could I leave an injured woman of my kin without a pack in the wild? Of course I will take you with me if that is what you wish." I probably nodded a little bit too enthusiastically, for I almost threw up on the grass next to me.

The man was quick to fuss over me again, making sure that I was not feeling sick anymore. "I think I have a wound on the back of my head where I hit the tree..." I mumbled, once again feeling around where the painful spot was. A few seconds later my back was resting against the man's front as he was pottering about on my head. "I haven't even asked your name..."

I remembered as I emptied the waterskin, breathing heavily from downing all the water at once. "Thorin. I am Thorin Oakenshield." I probably would have spit the water out again if it would've been still in my mouth, but I put up with choking on my breath instead.

He clapped down on my back a couple of times until I was able to breathe again. 'A king without a throne and a golden heart' I remembered suddenly and cursed myself for not reading Tolkien's book when I had the chance. I knew what it was about, with Thorin Oakenshield, the Lonely Mountain and the Dragon but that was about it with my wisdom. I remembered the Hobbit in there somewhere, he gave the book the name after all, but the details were clearly lost on me.

"Sorry...my name is Rosemary, or Rose for short." I replied, and leaned back against his legs. I ended up with a stupid bandage around my head, making me look like an idiot. "Do you by chance have a hat or something like that?" I asked Thorin as he carefully pulled me up to my feet, grabbing my arms for a moment to make sure I didn't fall over again. He shook his head and looked me up and down for a moment. "Unfortunately I do not, but I don't think it would be wise for you to travel in this attire."

I followed his gaze and blushed as I saw the rather revealing cuts across my legs and chest. I shrugged with a quiet 'meh' and soon hit in the face by a batch of clothes. "Are you sure?" I asked him, but he had already turned around with crossed arms, leaving me my privacy to get dressed without him looking. He had given me a basic blue shirt, a vest like thing to put on top of that, dark brown pants that were far too big and long for me and a belt to keep everything in place.

"Not perfect but they will do until you can buy something else." He commented on my attire. I probably looked quite funny, with the bandage around my head and with the clothes that were far too big for me. "Probably...I don't have any money." I admitted, making him smirk. "Thought as much. We should get going then." After a little bit of arguing I convinced him that I was indeed able to carry some of his stuff as some kind of payback for taking care of me and giving me clothes and with that we spent the first hour of our walk in silence.

I was still trying to understand what I was doing here and Thorin was probably thinking about who the hell I was and where I had come from. "Do you believe that there is a God? Somewhere up there?" I asked him after a while, pointing upwards to the sky. He followed my finger with his eyes for a second before he furrowed his brows. "I believe that all dwarfs have been created by Mahal, and that Mahal himself had been created by Eru or Ilúvatar, whatever name you want to give him." I nodded. Not that surprising to be honest.

With a sigh I decided to just drop the bomb and get it over with, for I intended to stay with Thorin as long as possible. He seemed reasonable and trustworthy enoug, for now at least. "I met this Eru dude...before I came here, you know. Dropped some big words before he showed me his face and scared me half to death." I didn't realize that Thorin had stopped walking until I turned my head to look at him and only saw the horizon in the distance.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, a little worried about his shocked look. "You met the Allfather?" He asked with a gasp and slowly stepped closer. I nodded, a little uncomfortable from his staring. "Well to be honest...I'm not really from around here. Well not Middle Earth at least. We call it just Earth and there are only humans there, no dwarfs or whatever kind of things are running around here as well. I was just taking a walk in the forest and found myself being stalked by this guy and prepared myself to whack him upside the head with this stick I had...didn't work of course." I scratched my temple under the bandage and tried to avoid his gaze as I continued.

"He talked about starlight being stolen from here and being born on Earth and that he had to kill my parents to keep me from dying and now I'm here and I don't know what to do or where to go and now you are probably freaked out as much as I am and-and...I..." My words turned into sobs and soon I stood there, my head in my hands as I cried. I wasn't too sure what I had expected Thorin to do after I threw my confusing story in his face, but I surely was surprised as I once again felt his hands on my shoulders.

He didn't hug me and I was thankful for that, for it probably would've only made me cry even more, but he made sure that I knew he was still there. It was strange that we had managed to bond in such a short amount of time, but sometimes fate had a strange sense of humour. Once again, I wasn't one to complain. He stayed there with his hands on my shoulders until I was done freaking out and even managed to give me a small smile when I looked up again. "God I'm so pathetic sometimes..." I mumbled, wiping my face dry with Thorins shirt.

He suddenly nudged my chin upwards, making me look at him. "You have been thrown into a world you don't know with an instruction you do not understand. There is nothing pathetic about being scared because of that, do you understand?" I nodded quickly and scratched my temple again under the scratchy fabric. "Come on, we still have a long way to go." First we passed our time by talking about trivial things, like what kind of races lived in Middle Earth and where, until we reached the reason of his journey.

"I am on a quest to take back the home that had been stolen from us. A long time ago I had lived in Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. I was the grandson of Thror, the King under the Mountain. He ruled a long time, but as the time went on he got greedy. The mountain of gold in our treasure chamber grew and grew without stopping and with the King's Jewel above his throne he only felt reassured in his decision to hoard more and more. But one day the air felt different. The wind was drier and hotter than it should have been. If we would have been more careful...we could have saved so many lives back than."

He stayed quiet for about five minutes. I knew that he was far from done with telling his story but I didn't dare to push him. "We saw the fire before we heard the screams. Bright orange flames that ripped the trees right out of the earth and sent them flying towards Dale. We tried everything to keep the dragon out of the mountain but what are a couple of warriors against a firedrake?" He snorted and looked at me. "I have never forgotten the screams of the men, women and children that died that day. I know that my family is to blame for what happened to them and it still doesn't let me go. I can only hope that by taking back what has been stolen and by killing this dragon I can finally lay those memories to rest."

Of course I felt sorry for him. He seemed so broken and lost at that moment and even though it made walking a little bit more difficult I took a hold of his arm with mine, not quite sure what I should reply to his story. "I asked for assistance from the seven dwarven kingdoms but there were not many who would come to our aid. They think that Erebor is a lost cause." I snorted, making him look at me.

"I always told myself not to rely on others. They either do it wrong or not at all. Anyways, if you need help, I'm in for all it's worth." He looked at me with an thoughtful expression. "I cannot promise that we will survive this quest." I shrugged. "And I am sure that I won't survive a week out here on my own. I would probably set myself on fire trying to set up a camp." He rewarded me with a small laugh and once again we fell into silence, me still with one arm wrapped around his. "Will there be others?" I asked after a while, wondering what kind of people I would meet along the way.

He nodded. "Some of them a descendants from Durin's line like myself, others hail from Khazad-dûm and merely joined us for the sake of an adventure." I smiled. "But at least they want to help...so you know all of those who will be going with us?" He nodded again. "Some of them lived in Erebor when I was younger and some fought with us in the Battle of Azanulbizar. There are also my nephews Fili and Kili, the sons of my sister Dís. She tried to keep them from joining us but I do believe that it is their right to fight for their home as well. They are old enough after all."

I smiled a little. Judging by the change of his tone as he spoke of his nephews he thought quite highly of them. "And how old are they, if I might ask? Would be quite awkward to be the youngest one in our group as well." I asked with a grimace. "Kili is the youngest of our company with 77 years. Fili is 82."

Well that was like a slap in the face. I stared at him in shock. "Are you kidding me? That's like...pretty old if they were humans...wait. If your oldest nephew is considered young with 82, how old are you then?" I wasn't too sure if I even wanted to know his age, as I watched his smirk turn into a full grin. "195 years. And how old are you if I might ask?" I nearly tripped over my own feet as I continued to stare at him, my eyes probably as big as saucers and with my jaw almost hitting the floor. "Holy crap Thorin! You're almost 10 times older than me, gramps!"

He laughed as I threw his arm over my shoulders, attempting to aid him in walking, which only ended up in us almost falling over each other. "You are merely a child then? In human years I mean." I shook my head as I removed his arm from me again. "I'm almost 20 in human years. I'm already an adult back where I came from, had my job and my own appartement." I explained with some pride seeping into my voice.

It got dark quite quickly and after Thorin admitted that we should already be able to see the Shire in the distance, which we couldn't, we decided that it would probably better to rest for a few hours. Watching Thorin set up a small camp was quite impressive. He had a fire going in about five minutes straight and after another two minutes I had something to eat in my hands. "Do you happen to have another one of those?" I asked as I watched him laying his bedroll on the floor.

He shook his head as he adjusted the blankets and the pillow. "Well that's a problem. Not that I mind sleeping on the floor." He raised an eyebrow at me and plopped down on the floor next to me. "You will not be the one sleeping on the floor tonight Rosemary." The next ten minutes were filled with an argument about why the other should be taking the bedroll and in the end we were both annoyed enough to decide that we simply had to share.

It was a little awkward at first to huddle against the future King under the Mountain but after some stern words of him that I should finally stop to twitch around like a headless orc I managed to relax a little and fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson own everything, I only own Rosemary. Have fun like always :)

The night passed quickly and in the morning we leared the hard way that having somebody on watch, experienced or not, was always a good idea. If it weren't for their loud stomping and Thorin's amazingly quick reactions I would have awoken with a sword stuck in my chest area. They were merely a group of bandits but they weren't set out to take hostages.

I found myself being wrapped in Thorin's arms who rolled out of the way just quickly enough to avoid getting me killed. He simply threw me to the side, out of harms way for the moment and lunged to his sword which he ran through the first man in a clean swipe, cutting him open from his crotch upwards. I gagged a little as I saw the blood spill on the floor, but there wasn't much time for me to be sick as I found myself being cornered by another bandit.

"Aren't ya a little sweetheart?" He almost purred and grinned at me with the brown stumps in his mouth. I lifted my hands in surrender. "Come on...that's really not fair. I'm a girl, I'm not armed and I'm a dwarf. Not appealing don't you think?" I rambled, eyes flying to where I saw Thorin finish off the other two bandits.

Mr. Stumptooth jumped forwards, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt, not realizing that he was now on his own. "I think I'm gonna take ya with me...have a little fun ya know..." His eyes went with as he watched the tip of Thorin's sword make it's way from his back through his stomach until he collapsed in a puddle of man. "Are you alright?" He was panting a little and there was blood on his hands and some red spots on his face but otherwise Thorin seemed unharmed.

I on the other hand, spent the next minutes throwing up in the next best bush. "How about we don't do that again..." I grumbled before I began to gag again, finally done with polluting the environment. Like the gentleman he was Thorin was holding my bright orange braid back and slowly ran a hand down my back to calm me down.

"Agreed. If we hurry we should reach the Shire in a few hours. I actually intended to let you rest a few hours longer but I think that wouldn't be to wise now." I quickly shook my head before I let myself fall against him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Not to shabby for an old-timer. Thanks for saving my life." He clapped me on my back a couple of times before we wordlessly packed our stuff again and continued on.

"I told you we had to turn left but of course you wouldn't listen!" I was already throwing my arms up in frustration as Thorin stared at the waysign. His eyes flew from his map to the sign and up and down again for a couple of times until he quietly turned around the way we came from, his cheeks a little red from embarrasement. "You know I won't let you live that down? The almighty king getting lost twice because he didn't listen to his companion who has no idea where she is."

I giggled and stumbled as he lightly punched me in the arm. He had been doing that a lot this day, just like I had been teasing him as much as I could. "If you mention this to any of our companions..." He began to threaten me with a raised finger but I interrupted him halfway. "If we ever find them with your awful sense of direction." He huffed and began to walk ahead as I struggled to stay upright as I continued to laugh.

"Aw come on, old-timer! You know I didn't mean it like that. Wait until you find out what I'm awful at, you'll never let me live it down as well." It was already gettind dark when we reached the first hobbit holes and soon we faced another problem. "And where to now? A green door with a sign on it. What's it called again?" But apparently Thorin had other plans and simply dragged me to where a Hobbit was still working in his garden.

"Where is Bag End?" He asked the poor man who suddenly looked like he was about to faint. He was a strange sight indeed with his large and pointy ears and those massive and hairy feet. He was adorable but I felt quite sorry for him as I saw how much his hand trembled as he showed us the direction. "Damnit Thorin, the poor guy probably pissed himself out of fear!" I hissed at him but I couldn't surpress the giggles as I saw the looks of the other Hobbits as we casually strolled through the little village.

"Sounds like a party in there." I commented on the loud singing and laughing that was already audible a few meters away from the green door we had been looking for. Thorin didn't bother with the doorbell and simply banged down on the door with his fist a couple of times, sucessfully stilling all noise inside. "Thorin the party pooper." I mumbled under my breath, earning a stern look from the dwarf who had suddenly turned serious again.

The door opened to reveal a merry bunch of small people and a giant who seemingly had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. "Gandalf! I thought you said this place would be easy to find. We lost our way - twice." I lifted an eyebrow and walked in after the king. "_You_ lost your way twice gramps, _I_ knew where to go." Thorin shoved me lightly with a growl, making me smack into the door. Somebody in the audience snickered. He talked to this Gandalf character for a moment and to the Hobbit as well, while I was busy looking at everybody, trying to make out Thorin's nephews.

"And who is this charming lady you brought along, Thorin?" It was the adorable white haired dwarf who had asked the question and I saw him winking at me as I waved at him. "She took a tumble and hit her head on the way down the slope." He answered, pushing me in front of him to get me to talk myself. "'Sup? I'm Rosemary, or Rose. Seems like I'm in as well." There were a few murmurs in the group but questioning their leader's choices probably wasn't an option.

I left them to talk to each other and went on my own adventure in that time. To say I was curious about how a hobbit house looked like was a clear understatement. I wandered through the halls, peaked into the rooms with open doors and admired the collection of books on the shelves when I saw two shadows appear in front of me.

"Hello. And you two are?" I asked as I turned around. One of the dwarves was dark-haired and probably the only one with merely stubble adorning his face, the other one had dirty blonde hair and a funny looking braided mustache. "Fili and Kili, at your service." They said in complete synch and even with a bow at the end. I felt a grin began to spread on my face. "So you are Thorin's nephews? The two youngsters?" Kili turned a little red and Fili frowned. "No offense, really! I'm actually a lot younger than you two, don't get angry okay?"

They had actually been sent by their uncle to get me to the table so I could eat something and listen what the quest actually was about. By the time we reached the rest of the group, I already had two new best friends. Thorin mumbled something close to 'For Mahal's sake' as he saw us entering, me sandwiched between his nephews with my arms around their shoulders and with my feet barely touching the ground.

We sat down next to each other as well and as both I and Thorin ate, Fili tried to get me to down a tankard filled with ale and Kili tried to snag the pieces of sausage out of my stew. By the time we came to the important part I was close to tears out of frustration and was more than happy for the conversation to turn even more serious now. I listened only with half an ear to what they were saying and found myself rather confused afterwards as they began to shout at each other.

Their shouts soon turned into cheers and after I successfully avoided to nod off as Fili accidently almost knocked me off the bench, I began to listen again. Hopes were getting high as Gandalf passed the key to some kind of secret passage to Thorin but there was still the problem of finding out _where_ that passage exactly was.

The conversation turned towards the topic of a required burglar next which was actually the reason why we had met in this hobbit hole. According to Gandalf Hobbits were a really stealthy folk, light on their feet and only seen when they wanted to be seen. Poor Bilbo didn't understand that it was actually him whom Gandalf had chosen to accompany us and he soon turned a little pale as Thorin slapped the contract against his chest. "I don't think this is going to end well..."

I mumbled as I squeezed my way out of my seat between the two brothers and walked towards the hobbit who had begun to sway on his giant feet. "Are you okay?" I asked him and carefully put one arm around his shoulders to keep him upright. He nodded swiftly and muttered a few more words before he collapsed in my arms, taking me down with him.

"Better?" I asked him, handing the hobbit a cup of tea as he slowly woke up again. He nodded groggily and rubbed his eyes before he took the offered drink from me. I nodded at Gandalf before I took my leave again, for he probably wanted to talk to Bilbo in private for a moment. I walked through the halls again, nodding at the dwarfs who partly still stared at me a bit disapprovingly. I ended up on a bench next to a black and white haired dwarf with a chunk of metal stuck in his forehead.

"How did that happen?" I asked as I lifted my head to poke the skin around his wound. He didn't move for a moment before he made some big movements with his hands, muttering something in a language I could not understand and ended up in poking me on the forehead as well. "Um...okay. Not sure what that meant but thanks for telling me." I grinned at him and saw him rolling his eyes. He lifted an finger as if he wanted to tell me to pay attention. I nodded at him and turned around on the bench to face him completely.

He stood up and made some movements close to charade, his hands lifted like claws and his face twisted into a grimace. "Uh...a monster?" I guessed and grinned as he gave me a thumbs up. He motioned someone holding a stick in both hands, moving it downwards from above his head in a quick motion. "A monster with a weapon? Ah, so sombody hit you in the head and it got stuck?"

I asked and my eyes widened as he wildly nodded at me, making the piece of axe wobble around in his forehead. "Sounds painful...well I hit my head on a tree and according to Thorin it bled quite a lot. What are you doing?" He suddenly grabbed my wrist, pulling me through the hallways past a confused looking Thorin and in front of a grey haired dwarf with an ear-trumpet.

He spoke a few words and mentioned towards my head, while I was still trying to understand what exactly was happening. "Ow!" I yelped as Bifur (at least I thought that was his name for I didn't pay that much attention when they had introduced themselves) pushed me backwards quite roughly, making me hit the back of my knees on the bench and forcing me to sit down in front of the grey haired dwarf who instantly began to unwrap the bandage around my head.

"Is everything alright?" Thorin piped in and looked around the corner into the room where I was sitting on the bench in front of the half deaf dwarf and with Bifur in front of me who still held me down by my shoulders.

"Yeah no probs, just being manhandled by your friends." I grunted and flinched as the dwarf behind me began to prod around my wound. Thorin simply nodded at them and I swear I heard him chuckle as I shouted an half-hearted 'Traitor!' after him.

Oin, he shouted his name at me after I had asked him again, began to clean the wound again after telling me that Thorin's half-assed attempt to perform first aid on me probably only made matters worse and slapped some really foul smelling salve on it that probably would keep any bandits away from me. He wrapped a new piece of cloth around my head again, and after I gave him a peck on the cheek I told him that I was now going to bug Thorin by sticking my head in his direction in an attempt to make him puke.

The descendant of Durin obviously wasn't too happy when I told him that he sucked at performing first aid and looked like he was about to whack me upside the head when I continued to try and get my head in close proximity to his face. "It's not my fault I smell like a rotting corpse..." I mumbled as he shooed me away, leaving me to squeeze inbetween the two royal brothers who instantly scrunched up their noses.

"Still not my fault!" I said with a grin and sighed as soon as I heard some low humming coming from the fireplace where Thorin was standing. I must admit, I had heard the song they sung before, but as I sat there, hearing the pain in their voices when they once again told the story of how their home had been stolen, I didn't bother to wipe away the tears that ran down my cheeks.

I remained in my seat for a while after they had finished, even as they began to decide who would be sleeping where. "Would you mind if I join you, my dear?" I shook my head with a smile as I saw Gandalf approach me. He clearly had a reason for coming to me but just like I had before, we merely sat there, staring at the fireplace. "I talked to Thorin about how you met, but he refused to provide me with any kind of information." I chuckled weakly. At least he did _something _right today. "You are a wizard, right?" He nodded and lit his pipe with his finger, as if he was trying to prove his point.

"Have you ever met Eru Ilúvatar?" I asked, hoping that I didn't mispronounce the name too terribly. He tilted his head and released a couple of smoke rings into the air before he answered. "I think I did...we wizards are his offspring after all." I snorted. "So are the men and the elves as far as I know and they didn't meet him face to face." He lifted one of his bushy eyebrows and looked down at me. "Eru Ilúvatar is a divine being, always watching those he has created and yet never seen. He can give and take life..." I didn't really want to hear that again and shifted in my seat, interrupting the wizard.

"You have heard this before, have you not?" I nodded with a shudder as I once again saw this terrifying face that was branded in my memory. "I saw him...he _talked _to me when I was still human. What does it mean that starlight had been stolen from Middle-Earth and had been born somewhere else? And what is that Ainu-li-la-bla something and those dissonances, I don't really remember everything..."

Gandalf had grown quite tense next to me and just as he opened his mouth again, Thorin peeked around the corner and motioned for me to come. I sighed and squeezed Gandalf's shoulder for a second. "Remember me that we continue this talk...sorry I assaulted you with questions like that. Good night." I followed Thorin who followed Bilbo to one of the few guestrooms with a bed that the dwarfs had left free for me.

"Aw, that's too sweet of you guys." I said with a grin as I sat down on the bed and kicked my shoes off. Just as they began to retreat in their rooms I called Bilbo back to 'my room'. "Yes?" He asked a little bit strained.

I still felt quite sorry for the poor hobbit. He had his pantry raided, his house messed up and polluted and he had also fainted from shock just a few hours ago and all that in just one day. "Um...before I make myself at home like that, I just wanted to ask if it was actually fine with you...I mean, with me staying here and everything...I just don't want you to get any more uncomfortable." I rambled on and only stopped when he lifted his hands.

"Out of all the dwarves that have entered my home without permission, you are probably the only one I would have invited in anyways." He admitted, cheeks bright red and with his gaze on the floor. With a laugh I wrapped my arms around him and quickly hugged him before I ushered the hobbit out of the room and got undressed down to my underwear and Thorin's shirt before I slipped between the sheets.

Sleep did not come easy to me this night, for when I closed my eyes I only saw a mix of the creepy god and the bandits Thorin had taken care of earlier today. At first I merely awoke with a gasp, reaching around for something to defend myself with until I realized that there was nothing there, but after one abnormally awful nightmare, I found myself frozen in fear as I once again stared in the face of that terrifying being that called himself a God.

He made no effort to hide his face, but this time it didn't look mad or scary. His eyes had turned from a icy blue to a deep black and his hair and beard was no longer white as snow and shiny, but dusted with grey, tangled and dirty. The shining pale perfection that had been his face had made place for an old and wrinkled face with dirt covering his cheeks and forehead.

He no longer looked like that superior and divine being I had met in that forest before, but like a broken and sad man who had come to beg for forgiveness. "I seem so different than before and yet you know it is me." He said with a croaky voice and turned to me. He was sitting on the edge of my bed, facing the wall but as I stared at his face I couldn't help myself. I quickly scooted closer and pulled his head to my chest to comfort him.

"What happened?" I simply asked, pushing the scary memories back that threatened to come back again. "Even Gods have to confess their sins from time to time. I admit that there had been easier ways to retrieve what had been stolen but once again I was being selfish. I already saw what would happen to the company and I couldn't help but to think about what would happen if I threw in some help from outside. To make it more _exciting._" I sighed. Great, now I was being reduced to a toy for gods.

He snorted besides me. "Not a toy...a chance to make a difference. But as I forced you on your road to ruin I forgot the most important thing of all creation. The free will. I never even thought about asking you what you thought about this adventure." I brushed some tangles out of his hair as I listened to his shuddering breaths. "I would say no harm done...well that would obviously be a lie but I will be fine with it if you answer me one question: What happened to me on Earth?"

I felt a lonely tear hit my shirt and soaking the cloth. "You never existed. Everything you owned was returned to where it came from and the people you knew forgot you the moment you saw me." Once again I was surprised about how easily I was coping with this crap, but there were worse things after all.

"Well...I guess my life wasn't that great to begin with. I think I can forgive you." The change in him was a sight for itself. He began to transform in front of my very eyes, his hair and beard turned white again and got longer as the tangles smoothed themselves out, the dirt and the wrinkles in his face disappeared until that youthful face beamed at me again.

He looked like he had that night in the woods, but there was nothing scary about him anymore, with his beautiful and childlike features he suddenly looked even more like something more than a mortal. "So...what do you say...buddies?" I asked and held out my hand for a fistbump. We even managed a little 'explosion' and had to still our laughter when somebody next door began to snore like a buzz saw.

I giggled to myself. If anybody knew I just fistbumped a _God_! "So what was that thing about starlight being stolen? I still can't really wrap my head around that..." He hummed quietly and crossed his legs on the bed before he answered. "It isn't that much about the starlight as it is about something else. What made you outshine all of the stars on Earth was what you had and could not give. In a world like yours kindness, loyalty and understanding is not as treasured as it should be. And that was what made you so different. You would go out of your way to make somebody smile and risk your own happiness if it meant to safe somebody else from sadness. This cruel Earth you called your home did not deserve something so pure like you. This otherworldly shine you carried was what attracted my attention in the first place."

"I caused people pain before." I reminded him. He sighed. "So have I and on a much greater scale than you could ever imagine and yet they worship me. Sometimes you have to see past your faults to see how great you really are." He bumped me with his shoulder and chuckled. "I know it's easier said than done but you will understand it one day. Now, before I leave I have something to give to you."

He turned around on my bed to face me completely, now with a joyous look on his face that reminded me of a child that just received a giant pile of presents. He produced a small glass bottle on a necklace out of nowhere and filled it with something that looked like liquid fire burning in every colour of the rainbow.

For a few seconds I could merely stare at it in awe. "That is the Secret Fire or the Flame Imperishable. It has the power to give life, no matter how severe the wound inflicted on the being might be. But be aware...for a mortal it takes a great sacrifice for the fire to heal great wounds and an even greater sacrifice for it to revive." I looked up from the bottle into Eru Ilúvatar's eyes. "And why would you give it to me?" I asked in confusion, fiddling around with the chain. The fire had almost immediately lost it's colour as he had handed me the bottle and was now sloshing around in a strange grey-white shimmer.

A proud glimmer made it's way into his blue orbs. "Because for when the time comes, only you would be selfless enough to sacrifice yourself for those that you love." I tried to stiffle a gasp. "I will be killed?" I asked, a hand already on my mouth out of shock. He raised his eyebrows and layed a hand on my cheek. "Not if you show compassion for those who don't seem to deserve it. You just need to remember that everybody has a good heart, no matter how unlikely it seems. Now you should sleep, dear child...I do believe you have quite an adventure in front of you! Take care of yourself until we meet again."

He pressed a soft kiss on my forehead before he rose from my bed and vanished, once again leaving this strange white and black mist behind. After I had safely put the chain around my neck and tucked the bottle in my shirt I attempted to sleep again, this time safe from any kind of nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello my dear reader, all rights go to J.R.R. Tolkien and to Peter Jackson as always, I only own my character Rose. Have fun reading and feel free to leave a review =)

"'Scuse me? You should probably get up..." It was the soft voice of the adorable dwarf in mostly knitted clothes that woke me up the next morning, but knowing that I probably wouldn't have to face another life or death situation this morning I simply decided to bury my face deeper in the pillows and continue to sleep. "Um...I really think you should get up."

He carefully nudged my shoulder with his hands, trying to get me to wake up. I mumbled something into my pillows and was just about to get my cold feet undet the blanket again when somebody grabbed my ankles and pulled until I was sitting on the floor. I was close to flipping Thorin off but knowing my luck the dwarves probably didn't even know what the gesture meant. "Get dressed and take the pack Gandalf left you with you. If you hurry you can eat here before we leave." Ori quickly hurried out of the room, followed by Thorin who slammed the door shut after he left.

I quickly grabbed the grey pack that was sitting right next to me, not quite believing that it was indeed from Gandalf and quickly untied the string that kept it closed. "Give Olórin my kind regards. Yours sincerely, your 'buddy'." I found myself shaking my head in disbelieve, with a massive grin etched on my face.

There was quite a lot of nice clothing in the bag, fitting pants like I liked them, some shirts similar to the one I was already wearing and strangely enoug, some modern age underwear. But the best were probably my new dwarf style boots, just as bold as the boots of the rest of the company, but surprisingly noiseless as I walked around once I was dressed. Not wanting to strain Thorin's courtesy any further, I quickly changed into some of my 'own' clothes, secured the bag on my back and walked outside.

I obviously wasn't the only one who wasn't too fond of having to wake up early as I witnessed Dwalin banging his head on the table as he fell asleep again and Dori as he nearly poured his tea on the table instead of in his cup. "Morning." I yawned and slapped Thorin upside the head on my way to Bofur who had pointed to the seat next to him. "A friend sends his regards, Olórin." I suddenly blurted out, looking at the grey haired wizard who suddenly seemed to choke on his pipe.

The breakfast went on without another incident and after we were sure that the lovely hobbit would not be coming with us, we made our way outside. "Have you ever been on a horse before? Or a pony for that matter?" Thorin asked me as I gave Minty, the pony he would be riding, an red apple I had stolen from what little was left in Bilbos pantry. "Nope. Can't be too hard though, right?"

A few minutes later I was sitting on Minty, holding onto the saddle for dear life. "I don't like this. I really, really don't like this at all." I shrieked in a tone high enough for only bats to hear as Thorin grabbed the saddle as well and hoisted himself up to sit behind me and elbowed him in the ribs as I heard him chuckle.

It took me some time to get used to the swaying of the pony underneath me and the awkwardness of the physical contact with Thorin, but after about half an hour I actually began to enjoy the journey. I clapped along with the dwarfs songs, listened to Bofur's stories and was just flipping through Ori's journal as I heard somebody call out behind us. "I signed it! Here, I signed it!" Bilbo was panting as he handed Balin the contract, but he still had a grin on his face until Thorin mentioned his pony.

"I feel you, bro." I said as I saw his terrified face with a hand on my heart. He probably didn't quite understand what I meant but he still seemed thankful for my compassion. "I think my butt fell asleep..." I mumbled after about two more hours and slouched my shoulders in annoyance, so much for beginning to have fun. Thorin sighed heavily behind me and quickly wrapped an arm around my waist as I threatened to slip out of the saddle as he took another turn.

"We will rest here for the night!" He suddenly yelled just as we reached some kind of small cavern on top of a hill, making me almost jump out of my skin. "Can you get off by yourself?" He asked after he had jumped off the pony's back, causing me to grip the horn again. I shrugged with one shoulder and decided to just roll with it. I literally slipped out of the saddle and on the floor, groaning as I rubbed my sore back.

"I take that as a no." Thorin muttered and walked off without even offering me a hand to help me up. I grumbled something into my non-existent beard and grabbed the hand Dwalin was offering me out of all people. I bumped into him as he pulled me up with a little bit too much force and gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder before I walked off again, wanting to find a good place for my bedroll before everybody had settled down.

In the end I had nuzzled into a crevice between Fili and Kili after we had eaten and was just a second away from falling asleep when I heard a loud shrieking that instantly made me shiver. "What the hell?!" I grumbled and got tangled in my blanket as I tried to get up. "It's nothing, calm down." Fili reassured me and grabbed my arm to keep me from falling. "That didn't sound like nothing."

I nearly bumped into Bilbo who had been startled by the noise as well and was now on his way to the two brothers to ask what was happening. "What was that?" I heard him ask in a frightened voice just as I made my way to the cliffs. "Orcs..." Kili mumbled, making me whip around. "Orcs?!" Both me and Bilbo asked in unison, making Thorin jump awake.

"They're throatcutters...lowlands must be crawling with them." I felt another shiver run down my spine. Why were they staying so calm? "They strike in the morning hours when everyone's still asleep...never leave witnesses, only lots of blood." I felt myself starting to panic and since didn't hear Thorin approach, I nearly found myself punching him when I suddenly saw him standing next to me. By the time Balin had told the tale of Azog the Defiler and how Thorin had lost his father and grandfather, I wasn't too sure if the tears that were streaming down my face were from compassion for Thorin our out of fright after I had seen the shade of creatures crawling around below us.

"They will not harm us tonight, you don't have to be afraid." He said in a low voice and squeezed my shoulder before he turned around to face his friends. "And what happened to the pale orc?" Bilbo asked after a while. Thorin scoffed. "That filth died of his wounds long ago." I surely wasn't the only one to doubt that, for I had seen the look Balin and Gandalf had exchanged.

I spent the rest of the night with harrassing both Fili and Kili who, after their uncle had spoken a stern word with them, had taken it upon themselves to make sure I was feeling safe enough tho get at least a few hours of sleep that night. I wasn't too surprised to wake up sandwiched between the two brothers, with Fili hugging me from one side and Kili from the other. Getting out of their grasp obviously wasn't an option since they only moved closer, squishing me further.

"Ngh...come on don't laugh!" I grumbled as I heard somebody chuckle next to me. Fili snored quietly and began to bury his face in my chest. "Thorin's not gonna be happy when he sees that, lassie." I heard Balin say as I began to wriggle around in an attempt to free myself. "Well, then don't tell him. Wake up Fili! Come on, we're leaving soon." I began shaking by him a little and by nudging his shoulder and after he didn't react I began poking his cheeks until he buried his face deeper in his 'pillow' and opened an eye.

To say he was a little embarrassed was a clear understatement, for the colour of his face made even a tomato look pale. I quickly wrenched Kili's arms off my waist, successfully waking him up in the process and walked over to where Fili was wallowing in shame. "Don't be like that, Fili. You simply made sure I felt safe enough to sleep and fell asleep yourself in the progress. At least you had a comfortable headrest." I winked at him, making him once again blush violently.

"What did you do to my brother?" Kili asked suspiciously, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I shrugged. "Probably the heat. You tend to get warm if you sleep huddled together like we did." I lied, ruffling his hair before I gathered my belongings and put them back in my backpack. Our breakfast was rather scarce this morning and we quickly got on the road again for we still had a long way ahead of us and now the threat of an orc pack piled on top of that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson, just like always and merely Rose belongs to me. Reviews would be appreciated, so I can improve my writing =) have fun reading :D**

The next days passed without another sign of the orcs we had heard before and as I considerably calmed down I attempted to get to know everybody a little bit better since we would be spending the next few month together after all. I shared a pony with everybody at least once, except for Dwalin and Bombur who were heavy enough for the pony as it was and tried to collect as much of their dwarvish wisdom as I could.

I first learned to avoid Nori, who admitted that he had tried to get into my pack more than once, always finding it impossible to open, I shared some stories with Dori and Balin and learned new songs from merry old Bofur who let me wear his hat whenever I sat on his pony.

Gloin told me about dwarfish bookkeeping and after some persuasion even of his wife and child, Ori attempted to teach me how to draw and write in Khuzdûl, which I had absolutely no talent with. Oin was rather reluctant to show me his profession in healing, but quickly thought better of it after Fili, Kili, Bifur and Dwalin began to shove weapons into my hands to train me everytime we stopped for more than just a few minutes.

My talent obviously didn't lie with weapons either for I managed to nearly stab myself the first five times they handed me swords. "I'm really not getting a hang of this..." I gasped as Bifur once again knocked me back with the wooden part of his spear, making me stumble and fall on my butt.

"We really should at least let you try to shoot an arrow! Maybe a sword is just not your weapon." Kili piped in once again. He had been at this since we had started my lessons, but nobody except him seemed to get his point. "Yeah, please let me try the bow and arrow!" I gasped, eager to avoid getting my ass kicked again. I picked myself off the ground just as I saw Dwalin grumble something while pointing a finger in a direction far far away from the camp.

Kili jumped in happiness, quickly grabbing my arm to pull me with him before Dwalin changed his mind. "It would be great to have another archer in the group! I wouldn't be alone anymore!" He said enthusiastically and pulled out an arrow to show me what I had to do. He repeated the action a couple of times, making sure I saw everything before he handed the bow to me.

Well, I probably did better than with my sword lessons, but considering the amount of arrows that should be sticking out of a tree and the amount of arrows that vanished into the forest, we quickly disbanded the idea of me becoming an archer and decided to never talk about this again.

"Well that was a success..." I mumbled rubbing my neck in embarressment and followed Kili to collect the lost arrows. "We could talk to uncle, maybe he knows another weapon you could try." I sighed, a little touched how eager they were to teach me how to defend myself. Well, on the other hand, they probably just didn't want to have to keep an eye on me all the time...

We walked back with our heads hanging in shame and sat together for the rest of the morning, not wanting to get mocked for our failed attempt at teaching me something. It was about early noon when I learned that we would be spending the whole day resting, for the ponies were tired and the company was in a dire need of a bath. "I could take your clothes to the river and wash them while you are bathing." I suggested, not prepared for the amount of clothes that suddenly came flying at me.

Soon I was buried under a smelly pile of shirts, vests and pants, too shocked for a moment to sit up again. I caught a glimpse of Bombur's bare backside, before a thankfully still fully clothed Thorin stepped in my line of sight. "Be careful and at least take a weapon with you, even if you don't know how to use it. Intimidation is about as helpful as being able to stand your ground in a fight." He stated with a smirk before he stepped away and added some more weight to the pile of clothes that was already covering me.

I took the clothes to a spot further up the river from where I could hear the dwarves splashing around and see a occasional leg or arm waving around. I had taken one of the many daggers Fili had managed to hide on his person, not quite comfortable with the smooth blade in my hand, but not as uncomfortable as I was with it's much longer siblings. I scrubbed the clothes down, wondering if the dwarves could at one point see the ridiculous amount of dirt that was being washed down the river.

I carried them back to the camp and hung them on the contraption I had managed to build around the fire made out of a couple of branches and some string I had found in my pack. I was singing something to myself as I heard somebody scurry around behind me. Thinking it was one of the most likely still naked dwarves who came looking for clothes I simply ignored him and continued to hang the clothes on the contraption to dry.

I just shifted a little due to the dagger uncomfortably pressing to my calf where I had put it in the boot as I felt a hand grab my braid and pull my head backwards, putting a knife to my throat in the same time. "Stupid of yer little friends to keep such a babe all by 'erself." A gruff voice I didn't recognize mumbled behind me. He pulled me backwards until I bumped into him, feeling something press into my back I'd rather _not _want to think about. "Look at yer gettin' me all excited." He breathed and began to nibble on my neck as he rubbed himself on me, making me cringe and dodge out of the way.

He simply grabbed my braid a little tighter and pulled me backwards a little more. "I'd take yer with me, but I'd hardly control meself..." He began slipping the hand from my braid down my neck to the collar of my shirt, forcefully ripping the grey cloth open. I cried out, making him slap the flat side of the blade against my throat, successfully shutting me up as his hands wandered downwards to grab my chest.

Out of pure desperation I carefully lifted my leg, reaching for the dagger I had stached there. It left a little cut when I pulled it out but I kept myself from making any noise as I shifted the dagger in my hand, making the blade point backwards. I lifted my hand a little and made it snap back, successfully plunging the blade in the man's thigh. He let out a loud wail of pain and pushed me away, almost making me fall into the fire. I quickly pushed myself up again, trying not to retch from the sight of his bloody leg, a wound that _I had caused_!

"GET BACK!" I roared, hoping my voice would carry far enough to where I knew the dwarves were still bathing. I stood there, slightly hunched over with the dagger still in my hand, the blood of the man now running from the blade down my hand. The man was still holding his leg and began to sway a little due to pain and bloodloss but he charged for me anyway after I had stepped away from the campfire.

There was still no sign of the company and I began to panic slightly even as I managed to sidestep my attacker, knowing that I had no chance in combat, even if he was injured. We stood there facing each other for a few seconds, with his expression switching from leering to pain and to anger, while I simply waited with a snarl on my face, still trying not to puke or cry. He stumbled the next time he went for me and I put out my leg out of instinct as he missed me again, successfully tripping him.

I quickly grabbed one of the branches that had been to big to put up and began beating the wailing man, bashing his face in without thinking and continued even when he wasn't moving anymore. Stating that I was freaking out as I was suddenly grabbed from behind and moved away from the body was a clear understatement. I was too fixed on the attacker that I didn't realize that it was merely the group coming to my aid until I had whacked Dwalin, who had grabbed me, with the bloody branch I was still holding a couple of times before I scuttled away to sit against a tree, once again surrounded by my company after a few seconds.

"Durin's beard! Are you alright?!" Suddenly too many hands were fussing over me while Dwalin disposed of the body, tilting my head from side to side, trying to find injuries I didn't have. "I'm fine...h-he didn't hurt me." I mumbled and gently removed their hands from me until only Oin was left who tended the small cut I had received on my throat when the attacker had applied a little too my pressure for my skin.

The thin bandage he had wrapped around my neck didn't really made the slight burning sensation better, but since it satisfied the the company to an extent where they didn't feel the need to fuss over me anymore, I didn't complain. They quickly went on to their own business, still throwing me short worried glances where I sat by the fire and stared at the small pool of blood, the only remainder of the first man I had killed. They all left me in peace, all except for Thorin.

I jumped as he sat down on the log next to me, handing me a bowl of what I excepted to be some of Bombur's heavenly stew. I shot him a small smile as I accepted the food, but I somehow couldn't bring myself to raise the spoon to my mouth. I desperately waited for Thorin to go away so I could hand the bowl to somebody else, but he remained where he was with a pipe in his mouth, not looking like he was about to move in the next few minutes.

With I sigh I gulped down the first mouthful of stew and waited for him to speak. Over the course of the last few days I had noticed that Thorin usually kept to himself when we rested, except for when he wanted to speak to somebody. In that case he would follow that person around until he found the right moment.

"He did hurt you." He stated after a couple of minutes of me pushing the stew around in my bowl. I shrugged. "The cut wasn't too bad, I don't really notice it anymore if I don't think about it." I said and began to chew on another spoonful of stew. I nearly jumped off the log when I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"That's not what I meant. Your shirt is ripped open, you proceeded to hit Dwalin with the branch even after you saw it was him and you flinched when I touched you just now." He sounded clearly concerned and removed his hand from my person as he noticed that I was rather uncomfortable with the physical contact.

I sniffled a little, not trying to let the situation get to me after I had managed to surpress my disgust so well until now. It seemingly was an obvious enough reaction for Thorin for the quiet string of curses that came from his mouth didn't seem to stop until I interrupted him.

"I can manage...I'm just trying not to let it get to me. I know this won't let me go for a while, maybe never. At least I'm still alive." I explained and ran a finger over the bandage covering the cut. "It's the second time you were nearly killed because I wasn't cautious enough." His knuckles were slowly but surely turning white, gripping the wooden pipe almost hard enough for it to break.

I quickly laid a hand on his, making his gaze snap to me. "Don't even go there Thorin." I said with a stern voice, drawing the attention of the company on us. "If it weren't for your quick reaction the last time the bandit would have killed me before I would have woken up and I don't even want to mention the other one. I may not be fit for battle, but I managed just fine over there."

There was a heavy silence and now I was the one to put a hand on the king's shoulder. "If it calms you down, I will ask Fili to teach me how to fight with daggers, I think I'm more comfortable with them than with swords." He nodded slightly, still with a deep frown on his face and with his gaze turned towards the fire.

"Don't make a face like this before it stays that way." I added and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before I stood up and grabbed my bowl to bring it back to Bombur before I took a bath myself, guarded by Fili, Kili and Dwalin to wash that dirty feeling away. Persuading Fili into training me was almost not necessary for he nearly dragged me through the forest once I returned from the river, stating that he never wanted to see me in such a situation ever again.

After we had found another clearing big enough for Fili, Dwalin and Bifur to train and watch me we quickly found out that I obviously still couldn't deal out blows to safe my life, even with a sword that wasn't half my weight like the others. Suddenly the thought of me dodging the blows from my attacker came into my mind, giving me an idea. "This is getting us nowhere...I would like to try something. Just keep attacking." Fili frowned for a second and looked even more confused as I secured the dagger in my boot again, but he did as I asked anyway.

I thought that if my strength didn't lie with being offensive or defensive, I simply had to try another strategy. I dodged, jumped and ran all over the place, not even trying to attack him. My tactic obviously wasn't what the three dwarves would call fighting and soon I found myself facing not only Fili, but also Dwalin and Bifur, both only armed with thick branches. Surprised by Dwalin's sudden assault I quickly threw myself on the floor and slipped right through his legs, thanks to his wide stance.

Getting slighly freaked out after having to dodge another blow from Bifur I quickly scrambled up a tree, kicking off the lower branches in the process. "Suck on that!" I yelled and leaned back against the trunk, trying to catch my breath. It didn't take long for the rest of the company to get attracted by the angry and frustrated yells of their friends and my laughter as they desperately tried to reach me. Thorin of course was the first to speak out his confusion.

"How did that happen?" He inquired to know and raised an eyebrow at me as I waved at him from my safe haven up there. "Slippery like a fish! Didn't hit her even once!" Fili grumbled and put his swords away, only to stick out his tongue at me. Thorin somehow didn't look too happy, but I couldn't tell why exactly before he vanished in the forest again.

They began discussing my strategy, Dwalin calling it wimping out, Fili calling it barely enough to keep myself from getting killed. All the while I began to realize the biggest mistake in my formerly awesome plan: I couldn't get down the tree without injuring myself. In the end I had to let myself fall and trust the ever so intimidating Dwalin to catch me. "Sorry for troubling you...I'm not the lightest person, I know."

The tattooed dwarf simply shrugged it off. "Carried lassies twice your size often enough." He grumbled and set me on the ground again. I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks and quickly walked back to our camp when I heard Dwalin, Bofur and Balin start a discussion about how their perfect wife would look like. Hearing phrases like 'A beard as glorious as mine' and 'Enough on the hips to have something to grab' only made me blush even more.

I spent the rest of the day tending to the clothes that still hung around the fire, making sure they wouldn't catch fire on accident and with washing our pots, bowls and tankards, accompanied by Bilbo and Ori. "I've never seen a dwarven woman without a beard before..." Ori muttered as he dunked a pot in the water. Bilbo sputtered and looked at us in horror. "Your women have _beards_?!" He asked in a shocked voice, making me snicker and Ori blush.

The story about how I really came here hadn't really caught on, for Thorin had mentioned that it would probably be for the best to let as few people know as possible. After some consideration and help from Gandalf, Thorin and I had invented a plausible story for me. I was supposed to be an orphan of unknown origin raised in a town of men, which was the reason why I had no idea about dwarven culture or 'our' language.

My home had been raided one day, forcing me to flee only with what I had been wearing and on my way to safety I had run into Thorin, who was gracious enough to take me in. "I know just as much about this as you Bilbo, don't look at me like that." I said with a grin and poured the water out of the last bowl I had been washing. "And what had you been doing in that village, if I might ask?" Bilbo asked just as we reached the camp again.

I felt a few curious glances on me since I had never really talked about my private life before. I smiled at this question, I wouldn't even need to lie about it. "I pretty much owned an orphanage. The woman that worked there was rather old and didn't have the strength to take care of all the children anymore. I know how hard it is to take care of oneself from a young age on and I wanted to spare as many children as I could from such a fate. It's a hard job and often not that rewarding but it always made me feel happy to take care of others. And seeing and hearing a child laugh can be the best feeling in the world." I explained and put our dishes back in their bag.

I smiled at Balin who once again winked at me as I passed him and threw myself on Fili and Kili with a battlecry who had already settled on their bedrolls and groaned in unison on my impact. "REVENGE!" Kili suddenly yelled and began to tickle me until he and his silbling had wrestled me down and had my arms and legs pinned to the ground. Soon I was gasping for air from laughing and tears were streaming down my face. "I surrender! Please stop!" I yelled after a few minutes and successfully pushed Kili off of me before I curled into a tiny ball to shield myself from another attack.

Like the past nights we spent the time before we went to sleep with storytelling and songs, but this time Gandalf seemed to think it was my turn after everything I had learned from them so far. "How about a song from you, Miss Rosemary? I think the race of men has quite different songs than the dwarves, am I right?" I didn't like the smile on his face one bit, but I also couldn't say no to the expectant gazes of my newfound friends.

I wasn't too sure why, but somehow the first song that popped into my mind was 'Go the distance' from Hercules, a song that was actually quite fitting for the occasion. I thought about a comfortable tune for a few seconds before I dove headfirst into the song, hoping the dwarves would like it.

_"I have often dreamed of a far off place, where a great,  
warm welcome would be waiting for me; where the crowds  
will cheer when they see my face and a voice keeps saying:  
This is where I meant to be!_

_I will find my way, I can go the distance! I'll be there someday,  
if I can be strong! I know every mile will be worth my while;  
I would go most anywhere to feel like I belong._

_Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate;  
though that road may wander, it will lead me to you!  
And a thousand years would be worth the wait.  
It may take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through!_

_And I won't look back, I can go the distance! And I'll stay on track,  
no I won't accept defeat! It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope;  
till I go the distance and my journey is complete._

_But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part,  
for a hero's strength is measured by his heart! _

_I will beat the odds, I can go the distance! I will face the world:  
fearless, proud and strong! I don't care how far, I can go the distance,  
till I find my hero's welcome right where I belong!"_

I faced complete silence after I had ended my song and was concerned that they didn't like it, until Bofur began to clap for me, tearing the others out of their daze. "That is a wonderful tune! I never knew the race of men knew songs like this!" He said in his joyful voice and skipped over to where I was sitting between Thorin and Dwalin, eager to get me to sing something else to him.

"It's getting late Bofur, I'm tired!" I complained after telling him the stories of Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and successfully putting almost everybody to sleep. Since Bofur was on first watch anyway and now had only another two hours to keep him occupied until it was Doris turn, he wasn't too sad that I wanted to retire for the night. Like I was always riding on another pony everyday, I usually slept next to another dwarf every night even though it usually always drove me back to the cuddly royal brothers or to Ori anyway.

This night was Thorin-night though, which I knew he totally appreciated even though he usually rolled his eyes with a groan every time I threw my bedroll down next to his. Not bothering to even cover myself with a blanket this night, I flopped down on the matt and went out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Holy cow, I didn't expect so many reviews all at once! You guys are really awesome :D just keep it coming, for things like this always keep my motivation up :D You know, as always, all rights go to J.R.R. Tolkien and to Peter Jackson, only Rose is my creation. Have fun reading ;)**

I wasn't too sure if it was the slight drizzle that rained down on me or the stupid position I had fallen in that made my entire back hurt that had turned my mood so sour, but I knew that today wouldn't be a nice day for me as soon as I had opened my eyes. I wasn't the only grumpy one though and we found ourselves remaining silent through our quick breakfast and even through the first hour of our journey.

I wasn't too surprised that the rain soon got more intense and soon both me and Bilbo were the only one without any kind of protection against the weather. For the first time since we had departed from Bag End I was sitting _behind _one of the dwarves, Thorin out of all people, but it actually seemed to come in handy. I eyed his leather cloak for a few seconds before I quickly gathered the leather in my hands and threw it over my head and on the ponies behind, successfully cloaking me in pleasant warmth and shielding myself from the rain at the same time.

I shuffled around a little bit, trying to get both me and Thorin more comfortable and ended up with pressing my front and my cheek against his back and wrapping my arms around his waist to keep myself from sliding off. I was bound to fall asleep at one point for Bofur had kept me awake far longer than I usually would have wanted and the three hours of watchduty I also held only made matters worse.

I tried to remind myself for thanking Thorin to let lazy me sleep if he could've easily woken me up at any point, but I forgot about it the second he shrugged the comfortable and warm coat off, making me blink furiously as the light blinded me. "Are we there yet?" I asked in confusion and quickly held onto the the pack behind me as Thorin slipped off the pony, leaving me to get off on my own once again.

I was just about to slide down once again when Gandalf quickly caught me by the collar, only to run off afterwards. "Where are you going, Gandalf?" Bilbo asked, confused by his sudden departing. "To seek the company of the only reasonable person here, Mister Baggins!" I furrowed my brows and looked to where I saw Thorin standing, looking clearly irritated. "And who is that?" Bilbo replied. Something had clearly gone wrong here. "MYSELF, Mister Baggins!" Gandalf yelled and pushed past the rest of the company, eager to get away.

I shared a look with Bilbo, shrugging slightly before I walked over to where Thorin stood in the ruins of what seemed to be an old house. "What happened? Gandalf seemed angry." I mumbled and picked up a little doll from the ground. "Gandalf did not deem it wise to rest here, but the ponies need rest and so do we." He stomped away, passing out tasks to the dwarves, leaving me out. "I'll go with Fili and Kili." I stated, taking Minty and Myrtle by their reigns.

"Do you know why Gandalf wanted us to leave this place?" I asked as I brushed Fili's horse down. The two brothers shrugged and continued to watch me do their work. "If you excuse me..." I mumbled after half an hour as my bladder made itself known. I was just about to pass through a couple of trees as two pairs of hands grabbed my arms. "Where are you going? Thorin will have our heads if you get hurt again." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I need to pee guys, that's nothing you can help me with, really." They blushed ever so slightly before they released me again.

"Be quick and yell if something happens." I saluted as I made my way to another clearing. Peeing in the wild was something that needed some time getting used to. Being a girl in a group of guys who didn't necessarily understood my pain didn't really made my predicament any easier but after a couple of times I found out a way of getting the deed done that didn't involve taking my pants off or attempting to do the splits.

I found myself a nice place surrounded by bushes to keep curious eyes off me and was just about to open my belt, when I heard some creaking and stomping in the distance that clearly didn't sound like my company. I crouched down, trying to keep unseen by whatever was stalking around for it clearly was coming closer.

I nearly got hit by a giant foot that came crashing down right in front of me and had to physically keep myself from screaming by slapping a hand over my mouth. A foul smell instantly surrounded me, drawing a gag from me before I could help myself but as I looked up again, neither the scary foot or the disgusting scent mattered anymore.

There was a _gigantic, _somehow humanoid...thing walking around, arms and legs thick like treetrunks and only with some dirty cloth wrapped around his waist. The problem was, there were two of our ponies neatly wedged under his arms and I feared that we probably wouldn't get to ride them again if we didn't do something. I heard faint laughter coming from my left, the way I had come from so it could only be Fili and Kili.

I cursed them silently for not paying enough attention and was just about to carefully make my way back when the tree next to me began to give in with a creak. Do you know this feeling when you know that you should _really _just get away from where you are standing but can't help yourself but to freeze on the spot and watch doom come over you? No? Well, I knew that feeling all too well and couldn't help the string of curses and moans of pain coming out of my mouth when I found myself trapped under a young but heavy tree a few seconds later.

The tree had me pinned down on my chest, with my hands pressed against my shoulders where I had raised them to protect myself instead of stepping out of the way. I considered yelling for help a couple of times, but every time I opened my mouth to scream the thing that had walked past me came to my mind again.

What if it would be attracted by my voice? What if it would find the rest of the company because of me if I called for help? It seemed like I had no other choice but to get out from under the tree myself or to wait until somebody came looking for me. Even though I liked thinking of the possibility of maybe Dwalin simply ripping the tree off of me with one hand, the pressure on my chest slowly but surely became quite painful and made it a little hard to breathe and made me almost desperate for release.

The deed was easier said than done for every approach would either end up in me hurting myself or getting even more stuck. The only logical solution was trying to get my hands under the stem and push it up so I could slide out. Getting my hands in position wasn't too hard, but lifting the damn thing was something else entirely.

Soon tears of desperation were streaming down my face as I gritted my teeth and my muscles began to scream in protest, but the tree didn't move even an inch. Suddenly I faintly heared the noises of metal clashing and wails of pain and felt panic rise in my chest, successfully surpressing the aching in my arms and urging me on again.

Back on earth I had often read of mothers that could lift cars out of sheer desperation to safe their children and I couldn't help but think that I was experiencing something similar as took a deep breath and adjusted my elbows on the ground. "Come on...I can do this! COME ON! AARGH!" My yell echoed across the forest many times and grew even louder as I saw the thick trunk rise ever so slowly.

I quickly pulled my legs to my chest to place my feet on the trunk as well, giving me enough strength to finally throw it over my head, making the ground shake lightly from the impact.

I wasted no time in getting to where the yelling came from and found it hard not to laugh, gasp and scream in horror all at once. The dwarves and Bilbo all were either piled up in bags or slowly being roasted over a spit. "I say look for 'er. Ain't no many females out 'ere." My eyes widened. There were actually _three_ of them and they seemed to know that I was somewhere out there. The dwarves were clearly agitated and I even thought to hear Thorin say something sounding like 'I told you to keep an eye on her'.

I watched on for a while, the monsters seemed to be torn between coming after me and simply stilling their hunger on the dwarves. I kept quiet, knowing that running into the clearing wouldn't do any good but as I saw one of them picking Bombur out of the pile and raising him to his mouth I decided that this was my time to strike. I grabbed the trunk of the bush I was hiding in and shook it, making the leaves rustle and the attention of everybody turn to the forest.

It wasn't enough for the monsters to leave Bombur though. "Shit..." I mumbled and clutched my chest again. I was positive that there was nothing broken but breathing was still somehow a problem. I lifted myself off the ground and let out a probably too loud moan of pain as my overstrained muscles made themselves known again. "You 'ear that?" The monster with the ginger dwarf in his hand asked and quickly threw him back on the pile. Even more curses left my mouth and I quickly made my way through the bushes to the other side of the clearing. The monster rummaged through the trees where I had been standing before and came back with a growl when he found nothing.

"Let's get 'em done with. Dawn ain't be waiting forever, and I don't fancy being turned to stone." The monster with a apron mumbled, making me freeze on the spot with a grin on my face. That might just be the silver lining I had been waiting for. "Hey ugly! I'm over here!" I screamed, making everybody turn their heads in confusion. I giggled as I ran away again, rounding the clearing almost completely again. "You're too slow!" I taunted them again, making the monsters run in another direction. It went on like this for a few rounds, with me yelling obscenities at them and with them running in the wrong direction.

But of course I had to get distracted at one point and everybody knows what happens when you get distracted: you make mistakes. I caught sight of somebody tall and dressed in grey running past behind me. My heart almost leaped out of my chest as I realized that it could only be Gandalf coming to our rescue. I stumbled right on cue and slammed face down into the dirt, coughing as the air was pressed out of my lungs.

"HOLY CRAP!" I tried to scramble away and clawed at everything I could get my hands on as I felt giant fingers wrap around my legs, pulling me off the ground and swinging me around as I was carried back to the clearing. "God...I don't even know anymore if I want to throw up because of the dizziness, the smell or because of your face..." I gasped and blinked a couple of times to keep my vision from spinning.

"I want to eat 'er! I found the missy!" Another monster said and went to take me away when I piped in again. "I'm quite contagious you know. Really nasty stuff, wouldn't risk it." I wasn't prepared to be sent flying, but I was indeed quite glad that the dwarves managed to cushion my impact. We groaned in unison, but I found myself grinning at Fili anyways after I had rolled down the pile and came to a halt next to him.

"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf, the wizard with his impossible timing suddenly appeared on top of a large boulder and smashed it with his staff, making the light of dawn flood the clearing. The trolls, as Fili kindly told me, turned into stone like they had predicted and suddenly the air was filled with the cheers of the dwarves. I laughed with them for a moment and rubbed my chest again, still slightly uncomfortable.

My joy didn't last long however for Thorin obviously wasn't too happy with what I had done and grabbed my arm on our way back to the camp. "What were you thinking?!" He yelled in my face, making me stagger back. "Um...nothing to be honest. Listen, could you yell at me tomorrow instead? I'm really tired and my muscles are really _really _sore..." I sighed, freeing my arm out of his grasp and joined the company again.

"Those were stone-trolls. They cannot wander out in the sunlight so there must be a cave nearby." Nobody was actually objecting to Gandalfs hidden suggestion to visit said cave and after packing everything up we journied through the wood. "Why didn't you come back? We went looking for you but we were distracted by the trolls." Kili asked as he and his brother fell in step with me.

I shrugged. "Me too. Got knocked down by a tree and needed some time to get it off of me again." I said and pointed to the treetrunk as I recognized it. Suddenly Dwalin was behind me and clapped me hard on the back, making me bump into Bilbo who was walking in front of me. "Must be twice yer weight that trunk, lass." I waved it off, rubbing my sternum again. "Felt like more." I mumbled and quickly grabbed Bilbo's arm as he tripped over another root.

"I don't think I'm going in there." I stated and surpressed a gag as the stench of death and decay wavered over to us. Bilbo hastily nodded, his nose buried in his sleeve. We ended up waiting a few meters away from the cave with Fili and Kili who stated that they would rather miss the oppurtunity of seeing a troll hoard in favour for not throwing up.

"Seems like uncle has really taken a liking to you. If anybody else would talk to him like you do, he would have lost his head a long time ago." I smirked a little and watched where Thorin was just busy attaching a blade to his belt. "Well, I don't think I want to push my chances of survival that far." I commented, making them chuckle. The company soon joined us again with more goldcoins and gems in their pouches and new weapons on their belts.

"Seems like quite a treasure you found in there." I said with a smile and watched Gandalf equip the ever reluctant Bilbo with a sword. "I think you should take it...sometimes just sticking out the pointy end is enough." I joked and jumped as Thorin appeared right in front of me. "I found something that could be of use for you."

I raised my eyebrows. The piece of armor he held in his hands was clearly not made for a woman and not for a dwarf either, but it actually seemed small enough to fit around my torso. I smiled. "So you came to terms with me running away instead of fighting?" He rolled his eyes and motioned for me to put down my bag. He carefully pulled the armor over my head and began adjusting the straps on the inside to fit it on me.

"I will come to terms with whatever strategy you develop that will keep you safe." He stated with a smile and tugged on the metal to adjust it. "Get together, there's something coming!" Somebody behind us suddenly piped in and I saw Thorins face grow grim before he turned away from me. Gandalf raised his staff, ready to attack while I found myself being pushed from dwarf to dwarf, all of them trying to get me to safety.

Being wedged in between Dwalin and Bifur was indeed a little scary, but I found myself reaching for Bifurs shirt anyway as something broke through the bushes. "Thieves! Fire! Murder!" I wasn't too sure if I was supposed to be scared of the man or if I should laugh at the display.

The man was dressed in a coat made out of some strange brown material, with a matching hat on his head. He was barefoot and something that looked suspiciously like bird droppings was running down the right side of his face. But the overkill was the sled with which he had arrived with, pulled by _giant rabbits_! "Um...I'm confused." I stated and tried to get a better look by moving past Dwalin but he simply pushed me back with a growl.

Gandalf obviously was acquainted with the madman on a sled and after some explaining the dwarves declared Radagast the Brown harmless. I didn't really know what to do with myself while the two wizards were conversing and found eyeing the rabbits again and again. They were sniffling the air and scratched their floppy ears and looked simply _adorable_. After a quick glance left and right I carefully walked closer, careful not to get busted.

"Aren't you some cuties..." I cooed and crouched down in front of the two rabbits in the front, not prepared for their eagerness to get petted. I laughed as they launched into my arms, squeaking around and licking on my hands and face. I thought that I heard Bofur chuckle somewhere behind me and I even saw Thorin smiling at me.

Suddenly a strange howl echoed through the woods, making me jump. "Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked, a little panic mixing into his voice. The rabbits began to scramble away and huddled together, leaving me alone in the open. I quickly hurried over to the company, finding myself next to Fili and Kili who tried to make out where the howling was coming from. "Wolf? No, that is not a wolf..." Bofur mumbled and turned to look up the slope.

I was actually the first one to see the beast. Standing maybe taller than myself, it looked down on us with it's teeth bared, ready to pounce. I let out a scream and bumped into Fili as the wolf-like animal came jumping down. A second one soon followed, but the company had no problem in making short process with them.

"A warg pack! That means there's an orc pack not far behind." Thorin declared, ripping his new blade out of the wargs neck. "Orc pack?!" Bilbo and I asked at the same moment, both of us with the same tone of panic. "Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin? Who did you tell?!" Gandalf roared, stepping forwards to face Thorin. He squinted his eyes for a second. "No one, I swear! What in Durin's name is going on?"

I thought it was fairly obvious, for I was positive that those wargs were not here out of coincidence. "You are being hunted." Gandalf confirmed. And the bad news didn't end there. We were not only stuck in a forest with an orc pack hot on our heels, our ponies had also bolted, leaving us with no other choice but to run for our lives or die where we stood.

"I'll draw them off." Radagast suddenly declared and was already stalking back to his sled. "These are Gundabad wargs, they'll outrun you." Gandalf stated, turning to the brown wizard. Radagast simply smirked and pointed to the lovely rabbits. "And those are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try." The mad wizard was off in no time, soon trailing a group of wargs behind him, leaving us enough time to run.

Fili had been put in charge of taking care of me by Thorin himself who at this point seemingly didn't even trust me with running, due to my obvious talent of getting in trouble and so I found myself being dragged behind him by my hand, trying to hold up and not to trip at the same time. There were some close calls of being detected, but it wasn't until we were once again hiding behind a rock when shit hit the fan full speed.

It was a lone orc on a lone warg that had somehow sensed us and decided to split from the pack, but this one orc was enough to alert the rest. Kili wasn't to blame, for even if he had killed the warg with his first arrow, the orc still made enough noise for the rest of the pack to hear. They slew them down quickly, stilling the noise, but it was obviously already too late. It didn't take long for us to get cornered. We only came to another large boulder when the orcs came closer, and the situation began to look a little hopeless.

"SHOOT THEM!" Thorin shouted, while Kili was already busy killing orc after orc. "Where is Gandalf?" Balin suddenly bellowed, making some of the dwarves turn their heads in confusion. "He's abandoned us! Stand your ground!" Fili was still holding onto my hand, almost painfully so while he was wielding his sword in the other hand, looking determined to protect me with his life if he needed to.

"THIS WAY YOU FOOLS!" An all to familiar voice suddenly yelled, giving me almost whiplash from turning my head so fast. "Come on." Fili breathed, panting almost as much as me and dragged me to the boulder where Gandalf had peeked out of.

Fili literally threw me down the slope, making me land face down in the dirt where it took another dwarf to pick me up again. "I'm getting - tired - of - falling." I gasped between my ragged breaths. My chest was still hurting from the tree and the armor only squeezed my chest further, making me feel as if I was wearing a corsage.

We wandered through the narrow passage where I sometimes had to give Bombur a little push when he got stuck again, but we were rewarded with the probably most beautiful sight of Middle-Earth I had seen so far. "The hidden valley of Imladris. In the common tongue it is known by another name." I barely heard Bilbo mutter 'Rivendell', for I was almost as captivated by the view as he was. "Here lies the last homely house east of the sea." Gandalf explained further before Thorin ruined the moment by ranting against Gandalf...again.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill-will you will find here is the one you bring yourself." I smirked at Bilbo who was standing next to Gandalf. I could already tell that the wizard was getting sick of Thorin's mood.

"We have questions that need to be answered. If we want to be successful this situation would have to be handled with tact and respect. And no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me." Gandalf walked ahead after that, the dwarves trailing slowly after him. I was left with a seething Thorin.

"I understand that this is not easy for you Thorin. But I also know that Gandalf knows what he's doing. He had already planned to come here anyway and he would only do that for a good reason. At least we are safe for now." I stated, placing a hand on his shoulder. He merely shrugged it off and walked away. I sighed heavily and adjusted the straps of my bag again before I set after them, eager to finally meet the probably most mysterious races of all Middle-Earth.


End file.
